Last week we covered a controversy down in south Florida involving Greenberg Traurig. The firm was replaced as counsel in a particular case by its client, TD Bank, after a partner at the firm denied the existence of a document that, it turned out, actually does exist. The partner who allegedly made the statement is no longer with the firm, and next month, Judge Marcia Cooke (S.D. Fla.) will hold a hearing to determine whether the bank should be held in contempt of court as a result of this apparent screw-up.

This does not sound good, to be sure. But subsequent developments, as well as a closer examination of the situation, suggest that GT’s culpability may be overstated….

Is Greenberg Traurig throwing [partner] Donna Evans under the bus (or autobús, since we’re in Miami)? It seems unlikely that she’s the lone gunwoman or the one bad apple, simply by virtue of the way that large firms staff their cases. Did any other partners, in statements made in open court or in written filings, also deny the existence of the “Standard Investigative Protocol”? Was Evans advised by one of her associates that the document did not exist?

And what about the client? Did any employees or in-house lawyers at TD Bank tell Greenberg Traurig as outside counsel that there was no such thing as a “Standard Investigative Protocol”?

A growing controversy over TD Bank’s production of documents in a federal lawsuit in Miami involves the bank’s top executive for fraud and money-laundering detection, Senior VP Vince Auletta….

Another bank employee, Amanda Spencer, said under oath Dec. 4 that she used a document called “Standard Investigative Protocol.” So, the plaintiffs attorney David Mandel of Miami, requested it.

Auletta filed an affidavit dated Jan. 12 that said, “To my knowledge there is not a document titled ‘Standard Investigative Protocol’ which was utilized by the AML (anti money laundering) or EDDO departments in 2008 and 2009.”

On Tuesday, however, the bank said it does have such a document, and produced it – three months after the jury slammed TD Bank (NYSE: TD) with a $67 million verdict that is now on appeal.

The foregoing facts would appear to reduce Greenberg Traurig’s blame in this matter. If a senior VP files an affidavit denying the existence of a document, that’s a statement that outside counsel should be able to take to the bank.

And there’s more. A diligent ATL source consulted the docket in the case — Coquina Investments v. TD Bank, an action seeking to hold TD Bank liable for losses suffered by investors in the infamous Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme — and sent us some thought-provoking observations….

When was the last time you took a second look at your student loans? If you’re like most borrowers, you probably try hard not to think about them. After all, dwelling on your debt isn’t going to make it go away any faster. Or is it?

We’ve all heard how dysfunctional entry-level legal recruiting is: Inordinate expense, decisions made on the briefest of subjective impressions with opacity all around, and what do firms reap for all their efforts? Shocking attrition rates among junior associates. It’s time for a conference on what could work better, and this is it.

Kinney is currently running an exclusive search for an Asia GC role at a well known tech start-up company, based in Shenzhen. This company has received significant recent praise for their new smart phone device in leading medial outlets, such as the New York Times, TIME, Mashable, Wired, Yahoo, and Forbes, among others.

Are you a junior to mid-level corporate/finance associate who has been contemplating a move to (or within) Washington, DC? In response to increased deal activity requiring “NY (or like-kind) trained” corporate associates, the Washington, DC corporate/finance market is experiencing an unusually high demand for your skills. Read more, and check out www.g-s.com.